The present invention relates to an improved adhesive-type securing device, especially adapted for use on disposable diapers for infants, and also to a disposable diaper comprising such a securing device.
Adhesive-type securing devices for diapers are well known (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,180,355; 3,630,201; 4,047,530; 4,049,001; 4,050,463; and French Pat. No. 74 36 169). These securing devices generally consist of an adhesive tab fixed to one part of the diaper which is then being fixed to another part of the diaper in order to close the diaper at the level of the infant's waist.
The disposable diapers consist of an envelope made up of a thin flexible sheet which is impermeable and has absorbent padding on one side. The adhesive tab is fixed to one part of this sheet, i.e., to the part forming the back of the diaper, and is then secured, when the diaper is being closed, to another part of this same sheet, i.e., to the part forming the front of the disposable diaper.
It often happens that one may wish to reopen and reclose the diaper that has been secured in this way, for example, to check whether the infant has yet wet the absorbent pad or to correct the diaper's fit, for example, in order to tighten it round the waist. And it often turns out that by thus trying to open a disposable diaper in which the said sheet is very thin generally causes either the adhesive tab to be torn from the back part of the diaper, or the front sheet area to which the adhesive tab adheres and is torn, with this ripped off area remaining stuck to the adhesive tab. In either case it is no longer possible to reclose the diaper which is thus unserviceable, although the absorbent padding may not yet be wet.
Similar securing devices are used for other applications as well, for example the widest variety of envelopes and packagings made of thin materials, and in these cases also include the same problems, i.e., that once the device is opend it is generally destroyed, preventing any reuse, although this might be advantageous in certain cases.